Ch.82

May 26, 1929. 9:40 AM

Empty lot near Kingsport Cathedral

Kingsport

Clouds were gathering as if it might rain.

There had been no forecast of rain, but if a shower were to fall, I’d need to dash to the car parked in the empty lot. After all, there was nowhere suitable to take shelter in this wasteland. Still, brilliant sunlight shone here, and I could sit on a pleasantly warmed wide rock to observe my surroundings.

The area around Kingsport Cathedral was even more desolate than the outskirts of Arkham. At least in Arkham, vehicles and people came and went. Here, there was nothing of the sort. The only movement had been a rattling truck that passed by 20 minutes ago, sputtering like a sulky drunk. Cracked earth. Yellow weeds sprawled across the ground. Goats in the pasture eagerly grazing on what little green grass remained. The only intact buildings within sight were the Kingsport Cathedral and the pasture storehouse.

Aurora leaned against the pasture fence, watching the grazing goats. Her male disguise hadn’t changed much from yesterday. The fake mustache above her upper lip, the bulletproof vest worn under her shirt to conceal her chest, and the precariously long hat that seemed ready to fall off with every gust of wind.

What had changed was the person.

Her expression was different from yesterday. She had always maintained a stiff face, but today her cheeks twitched frequently. Three times she had started to say something only to mumble incoherently. She wouldn’t even look me directly in the eyes. That’s not to say she was avoiding me. She just lowered her gaze slightly. If her usual gaze had been directed at my face, now it seemed to be aimed at my neck or chin.

Whenever our eyes did meet, she would part her lips slightly in a smile, then startle as if surprised, turn her head away and pretend not to notice. Soon after, she would glance my way again and resume her smile.

Eventually, the clouds gathered above Aurora.

Aurora approached me. I mentioned that Abashina had been inside the cathedral sharing information with the people there for over 30 minutes, and judging by her absence, the conversation must be taking some time. I said that if it rained, we should move the car closer to the entrance. Aurora sat silently to my right, then, looking quite displeased:

“It’s just the two of us right now, and you have to talk about another woman?”

I looked at her, surprised by the sudden remark. Aurora herself seemed shocked by her own words, visibly flustered. Her face grew increasingly flushed. Then she covered her face with both hands.

“Ah. What am I saying? Really. It’s just work talk.”

She stamped her feet, kicking up dust, but she didn’t seem to notice. I assured her it was fine. I could clearly see her neck turning red. For some reason, she only seemed to grow more awkward. It was quite a while before Aurora spoke again, around the time a kid goat finished grazing under one fence section and moved to the next.

“I’m sorry. I got a bit worked up.”

I carefully asked if I had misspoken and apologized if so, but added that I’d like to know what had upset her. Aurora swallowed dryly.

“No. No. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just felt unreasonably upset. I haven’t been able to think about anything but you all morning, and then you started talking about Abashina. I know it’s work talk. I know that. It’s just, ah. I don’t know. It’s pathetic. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Aurora kicked at the air. She accidentally struck a stone embedded in the ground. The wooden fence that was hit by the stone for no reason made a thunk sound. The kid goat looked up with round eyes but soon returned to peacefully grazing. Aurora fidgeted with her fingers.

“Um. Hey. Thanks for indulging my stubbornness this morning. It was annoying, right? Honestly.”

I replied that it wasn’t and that I was happy to help.

This morning, after finishing my shower quickly, I applied the ointment to her again. I couldn’t apply it as leisurely as last night, but I was still able to spread it evenly across her entire upper body as she wanted. At breakfast, Abashina seemed as cheerful as she had been the night before, probably knowing nothing unusual had happened. Aurora, on the other hand, had a reddened face and only consumed half a roll and a glass of orange juice.

I asked Aurora if she had any particular discomfort.

“Huh? Oh. No. No. Actually, yes. Yes. That ointment works really well. Earlier. This morning, when you. Um. ‘Generously and thoroughly’ applied it to my chest. I knew we had to leave soon, but I actually wished you had been a bit more stubborn.”

Then she whispered in my ear.

“So, tonight, could you apply it longer? My clothes keep rubbing against me, and I’ve become… quite sensitive. Also, I’d like you to do my legs too… from between my toes, up my calves, behind my knees, to the inside of my thighs…”

The kid goat bleated. Startled, Aurora pulled away from me. Looking reproachfully at the goat, she lamented:

“Tonight will be difficult, won’t it? Tonight, you… Damn. It’s unfair. I just slept like an idiot last night. But you and Abashina will have fun all night long.”

I smiled and reminded her that we had agreed not to talk about other women. Aurora pinched and twisted my arm. It hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes. Sticking her tongue out slightly, Aurora muttered:

“Honestly, I hope this case doesn’t go well.”

Puzzled by another unexpected comment, I asked why. Aurora poked my side with her finger.

“Are you going to keep playing dumb?”

I told her it might turn out as she wished. The clues were becoming disconnected. That seemed to improve her mood.

“Right? And next time we book a room, I hope there’s just one bed. Like a twin bed. So you can comfortably…”

Aurora’s face turned bright red. Hot breath escaped her lips.

“And. And next time. I’d like you to hold me from behind like yesterday. Do you know what I was thinking yesterday?”

I asked what she had been thinking.

“I realized my back had been lonely and cold all my life.”

Aurora cleared her throat. Her voice cracked slightly. Her eyes reddened a bit, but like this morning, the warmth of sunlight seemed to flow from her.

“In the morning. Every morning. I thought if you protected my back like this, I wouldn’t need anything else. Even if it’s just an ordinary morning. If I could wake up feeling your warmth. If your arms held me tight, telling me not to leave today. I thought I would gladly do so. I know it’s too much to ask. Still. Even if just for one night. Or if that’s too difficult, just one morning.”

A rumble of thunder sounded. It seemed to be raining somewhere far away. But where we were, it was still bright. It felt as if the dark clouds weren’t approaching but rather were being kept at bay.

“I just didn’t want to lose you to that nun. It’s strange. I become so weak in front of you. So soft. Aurora Savio of Polaris Island isn’t like this. She leads hungry sharks. Creatures that would devour others without hesitation when hungry. But. In this ridiculous male disguise. Right now, next to you and that stupid goat…”

Aurora leaned slightly against me.

“I just want to open up completely. Even the precious places I’ve never shown anyone. Everything. Is that okay? The person in front of you isn’t a crazy tomboy, but a long-legged man with a fancy mustache. And right now, in this wasteland, it’s just the two of us. If I lean on you, will you accept me?”

I stood up. I gently embraced Aurora from behind. When Aurora looked up at me, I burst into laughter because of her fake mustache that simply wouldn’t stay still. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen it, and I had never thought it looked ridiculous before. Aurora, sensing my mood, bent over with laughter.

Only after we had laughed together for a while could we truly look into each other’s eyes. The black pupils with their reddish tinge no longer looked fierce. They were as gentle as a drowsy fire in a hearth. Quiet and comfortable. A contagious warmth that heated the entire house with its serene heat.

Shyly lowering her head, Aurora stood up. I rose with her. The rain clouds I had forgotten about were approaching. It seemed better to move the car closer to the cathedral entrance. The kid goat bleated and walked toward the storehouse. Its steps were leisurely, as if there was nothing to worry about.

* * * * *

The road was wet from the brief downpour. The rain had been noisy but stopped quickly. However, Abashina still looked displeased. I asked what had happened, but she ignored me, merely adjusting her dark sunglasses as she walked past. Instead, she declared to Aurora:

“Let’s go to the Kingsport police station. The priest said he’d put in a call for us. We don’t need to fumble around like yesterday; we can just say we’re private detectives. We can say we’re working on a case related to Ashton. If they ask, which they probably won’t, you’re an employee of the detective agency, and I’m a distant relative of Ashton. That’s how the priest introduced us to the police. And today, I want to sit in the passenger seat.”

That’s why I sat in the back seat. Abashina, in her measured voice, told Aurora what she had learned at the cathedral.

Kingsport is a rapidly shrinking city.

The young have left, and only the middle-aged who missed their chance to leave, the stubborn ones, and those too lazy to learn new technologies remain. Most are people who couldn’t adapt quickly enough to the changing industrial structure.

To be precise, it’s not that they didn’t try, but that the times didn’t wait for them. Where else could people who had worked in shipping for half their lives go? How could farmers who had tilled the soil for generations be expected to understand the depths of unfamiliar land?

After grief, frustration, a sense of obsolescence, and helplessness passed, anger found its way to the people. Gradually, those with louder voices took their places. People who indiscriminately hated others. Jews. People of color. The “inherently unlucky inferior Innsmouth folk” of course, but also immigrants who had left their perfectly good lands to come here. Irish. Italian. Mexican. Chinese.

Even those of the same ethnic origin came to hate their own kind. The reason was simple: “those people” were taking their jobs and food. That’s why fragments of the KKK spirit, already considered outdated in other regions, seeped into Kingsport. Just as mold grows in damp places, hatred sprouts quickly where animosity spreads.

Since this wasn’t something that could be addressed through policy, the cathedral used traditional methods to protect the community. Fortunately, Kingsport had strong small local communities. The cathedral supported these communities in various ways. From old women to aging laborers, they were ordinary and unremarkable people, but their gatherings and solidarity were the fine roots that kept Kingsport from collapsing.

Small greetings. Brief visits. Such little kindnesses.

The reason the Alto family’s growth had slowed was thanks to these small communities forming dams of trust. Hatred-based animosity doesn’t work on people with reliable neighbors. So the Alto family changed their strategy. Instead of expanding their influence, they decided to uproot the fine roots—to destroy the small communities and then embrace the fragments.

The method was simple. They spread false rumors within communities. Money issues were most effective, followed by gossip. People who had firmly trusted each other were bewildered by communities fracturing from within rather than from external pressure. Humble elders who recognized their own flaws as much as their neighbors’ weren’t greatly affected, but young people weren’t so resilient. The absorption of the shipping union community by the Alto family was quite a blow even from the cathedral’s perspective.

“Solid young men suddenly started going to gambling houses. Of course, they went to gambling houses before too, but at least once a week they would reflect on themselves. Not anymore. They roll dice and shuffle cards, cutting into time they would have spent in prayer.”

Then the warehouse explosion incident occurred.

‘Damn them. I always thought they were trouble, and now they’ve really done it.’

Everyone in Kingsport secured their doors and maintained their firearms. The public sentiment grew increasingly grim.

Meanwhile, a horrific incident occurred at an Alto family “branch.” The brick house incident we saw yesterday. Although they were people everyone hated, they were still neighbors who lived in Kingsport, people with whom others had once exchanged friendly morning greetings. The brutal deaths shocked the entire city.

“The priest told me, ‘Kingsport is falling apart. Not because of money or crime. Daily life. Ordinary daily life is being shaken. If even the relationships between people are shattered, this place will become a land inhabited only by ghosts.’ I think those words are true. No matter how evil someone is, they shouldn’t meet such an end. At least they should be given time to repent. No matter how much they ‘betrayed’ someone’s heart, they should have been given time to realize what they did wrong.”

The last words were directed straight at me. But I had no idea why Abashina was suddenly acting this way.

In contrast, Aurora seemed to have caught on. She glanced at me and smiled, lifting the corners of her mouth. I couldn’t even understand the problem, yet the two women seemed to have already written the answers, exchanged answer sheets, and were grading each other.